CFP Board in the News

For Female Advisors, a $32K Pay Gap

Apr 22, 2014

Want to know why there aren't more female CFP[® professionals]? Follow the money.

Even with the same experience, revenue production and ownership status, female financial advisors make $32,000 a year less than their male counterparts, according to new Aite Group research for the CFP Board. The real-world discrepancy is probably even greater: Female advisors are also younger than their male peers, less experienced and less likely to have equity in their own practice.

Women are seen as less likely to be hired as advisors, according to a report that the CFP Board unveiled Tuesday as part of its Women's Initiative. More than 40% of advisors of both genders believe men are favored over women when it comes to firms hiring a planner; only 6% to 8% believe women get preference.

And just 9% of the financial advisors surveyed for the report believe that women have an edge over men as successful financial advisors, the report finds, while much larger groups felt either that there was no difference or that men held an edge.

The research stems from an ongoing CFP Board project aimed at increasing the number of female CFP[® professionals]. Women have been stalled at 23% of CFP[® professionals] for about a decade, noted former CFP Board Chairwoman Nancy Kistner, [CFP®] -- and current chairwoman of the Women's Initiative advisory panel -- during a daylong event in New York rolling out the new report.

"We're falling short as a profession," Kistner chided listeners. Read more >